The present invention reminds the user of the need to perform a desired activity and it enforces the performance of that activity by continuing to signal the user until the activity is performed. Numerous reminder systems, such as alarm clocks, are well known, but these reminder systems generally do not enforce a desired activity or even monitor the activity.
One form of the present invention is an orthodontic device for enforcing the use of an orthodontic headgear. The typical user of an orthodontic headgear is a teenager, and the headgear is usually used to move the patient's teeth rearwardly. Because of the awkwardness and discomfort of the headgear, teenagers are often uncooperative and will not use the headgear as ordered by the doctor.
Devices have been developed to enforce, or at least monitor, the use of orthodontic headgears. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,310 to Northcut discloses a timing system for an orthodontic headgear. In this system, the headgear includes a face bow that attaches to the patient's teeth and to a headstrap that fits behind the patient's head and pulls the bow toward the patient's face. A timer is built into the head strap that detects tension thereon and records the time that the strap is held in tension. This device assumes that the time of tensioning the head strap is equal to wearing time. However, an uncooperative patient could defeat this device by simply hanging the headgear over a door knob with weights attached to create the tension. Also, this device does not remind the patient or enforce the use of the headgear. It merely records the time of use in the hope of encouraging the patient to wear the device.
Another orthodontic monitoring device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,163 to Kirschenbaum and this device also includes a face bow and a headstrap. A spring switch detects whether the strap is under appropriate tension and, if not, a radio transmitter mounted on the headgear transmits a signal to a remote receiver which sounds an alarm. Again, this device is easily defeated, such as by mounting the headgear on another object (a door knob), and there is no provision for reminding and enforcing.
In accordance with one form of the present invention, an orthodontic reminder and enforcer apparatus is provided for an orthodontic headgear. The headgear includes a conventional head strap with a modified face bow. The bow extends about the face and into the patient's mouth where it is attached to the teeth, and a magnet is preferably mounted on the front center of the bow. A mouthpiece is configured to fit within the mouth of the patient and is usually placed behind the front teeth. The mouthpiece includes a magnetic switch sealed within it and, when the face bow is in proper position on the teeth, the magnet on the face bow will be sufficiently close to actuate the magnetic switch in the mouthpiece.
A clock is mounted within the mouthpiece for generating clock pulses, and a logic circuit mounted within the mouthpiece is responsive to the clock pulses and the magnetic switch. The logic circuit counts the clock pulses and is capable of distinguishing between at least two distinct periods of time defined as a use period and a dormant period. During the use period, the logic circuit will generate an electric alarm signal if the magnetic switch is not actuated by the magnet. If the magnetic switch is actuated, the logic circuit interprets this condition as a detection signal indicating the presence of the magnet and the face bow, and it will cease generating the electric alarm signal. During the dormant period, the patient is not required to wear the headgear so the logic circuit will not generate the electric alarm signal regardless of whether the magnetic switch is actuated. An alarm, preferably a beeper, is mounted within the mouthpiece and generates a beep inside the patient's mouth in response to the electric alarm signal. During the use period when the magnetic switch is not actuated, the beeper will continue to beep for a sufficiently long time to irritate the patient and force him to wear the headgear. In other words, in order to turn off the beeper inside his mouth, the patient must wear the headgear. The beeping sound inside the patient's mouth is intended to be sufficiently irritating and, perhaps, embarassing, to cause the patient to prefer wearing the headgear over hearing a beeper inside his mouth.
The patient is not informed as to how or why the beeper system works, and the magnet on the face bow may be concealed on the face bow to appear as if it were part of a weld that normally is formed on the face bow. In fact, a patient may be misinformed as to how the device is working so that the patient's efforts, if any, to defeat the beeper system will be unsuccessful. For example, the patient could be told that the device detects the tension on the bow by way of a switch on the teeth to which the bow is attached. In this manner, the patient will try to defeat a nonexistant switch and tension detector system and, probably, will be unsuccessful.
The enforcer device of the present invention is not limited in its usefulness to orthodontic devices. For example, instead of mounting the magnet on a face bow, the magnet could be mounted in a medicine container. Whenever the beeper sounds, the magnet in the medicine container must be brought into close proximity with the mouthpiece to deactivate the beeper. Thus, to stop the beeper, the user must bring his medicine container to within inches of his mouth. Performing this activity will be sufficient to persuade most people to take their medicine. Having the reminder system built into one's mouth will prevent the patient from losing the beeper system and it will encourage him to not lose his medicine container. Devices in which a beeper system is built into a medicine container are often accidentally defeated by simply failing to carry the medicine container.
In accordance with another form of the present invention, the apparatus is contained within a main housing and straps are provided for permanently attaching the main housing to the person. For example, the main housing may be attached to a person's arm by means of straps that are secured together by a deformable clamp so that the straps may be released only by cutting them. A magnetic switch is mounted within the main housing for switching and generating a detection signal in response to the presence of a magnet in near proximity to the magnet switch. A magnet is mounted on another part of the body or in another desired location. When the main housing is brought to within a predetermined distance of the magnet, the magnetic switch will be actuated. A clock is mounted within the housing and produces clock pulses. A logic device is responsive to the clock pulses and the detection signal for selectively generating an alarm signal, and the logic device is operable to begin generating the electric alarm signal at predetermined times and to continue generating the electric alarm signal until at least one detection signal is generated by the magnetic switch. An alarm, such as a beeper, is responsive to the electric alarm signal to produce an alarm perceivable by the person. In this construction, an alarm will be generated at selected times and will continue to be generated until the magnet is placed in near proximity to the magnetic switch.
In this form of the invention, the main housing may be mounted on one part of a patient's body and the magnet may be mounted on another part of the body. The desired activity in this case is to have the patient move his body so that the magnet and the main housing will come together. For example, if it were desired to have the patient touch his knee with his elbow, the magnet could be mounted on the knee and the main housing mounted near the elbow. Also, either the magnet or the main housing could be mounted in a location remote from the patient. For example, if it were desired to have the patient lift his knee to a desired height, the main housing could be mounted on the patient's knee and the magnet could be mounted on the wall at a desired height.
Thus, when the alarm signal was generated, the patient would be reminded to go to the wall and lift his leg to a desired height. It will be appreciated that the logic device may be modified to generate the electric alarm signal at a variety of different times and under a variety of different circumstances according to the activity that is desired. Also, the action necessary to deactivate the alarm could be varied. For example, the logic device could require ten separate "on" and "off" signals from the magnetic switch in order to deactivate the beeper. In this mode, for example, a patient may be required to lift the main housing on his knee to a magnet mounted on a wall for a selected number of times in order to generate the appropriate number of "on" and "off" signals that are required to stop the alarm.